The Present Truth, vol. 8

October 6, 1892

“The Best Search-Light” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the sea.” Micah 7:18, 19. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.1

The Best Search-Light. -“For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy sight shall we see light.” Psalm 36:9. The life of Christ is the light of the world. See John 1:4; 8:12. So when the Psalmist says, “In Thy light shall we see light” it is equivalent to saying that in the life of Christ we shall see light. How many people are groping in darkness for light. Professed Christians stumble over heart things in the Bible, because they do not use the light that would make everything plain. So many people refused to accept a life of Christ, because there are some things that they do not understand. It would be as reasonable for a man to refuse to take a lantern, because it cannot see any thing in the dark. When people take the life of Christ for their own, and understand that all the Scriptures are but the reflection of Christ, many difficult things in the Bible will be perfectly clear. It is much easier to find a thing when we look for it in the light, than when we grope in the dark for it. He who accepts the life of Christ has the key to the whole Bible, for the life of the word is the life of Christ. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.2

“Christ’s Coming” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Christ’s Coming.-“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go did to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3. Note what is involved in this promise. First, Christ will surely come again, for He said so. Second, He will come again, that is, the second time. That means that His coming is to be as real and personal as His first advent. It is not death, not conversion, that is promised, but the literal return of the Lord. Third, but His coming is the only way by which His disciples can be with Him. His coming is for the purpose of taking His people to Himself. If they could be with Him without His coming, there would be no necessity for Him to come. But He will not come in vain. He will come to gather His saints, and He will find them here. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.3

“Light and Life” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Light and Life.-One of the characteristics of light is that it may multiply itself indefinitely without diminishing itself in the least. A lighted candle may give light to a million candles, and yet its own light be just as bright. The sun supplies light and heat to this earth, and there is enough for all. Each individual gets as much benefit from the sun now as it was possible for anyone to get when the population of the earth was only half as great as it now is. The sun gives its whole strength to each person, and yet it has much heat and light as though it supplied no one. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.4

Jesus Christ is the Sun of righteousness, and the Light of the world. The light which He gives is His life. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. He says, “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. His life He gives for the world. All who believe on Him receive His life, and are saved by it. Just as the light of the candle is not diminished although many others are lighted by it, so Christ’s life is not diminished though He gives it to many. Each individual may have it all in its fulness. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.5

The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it. His light could not be quenched. Satan could not take His light, because he could not attempt Him to sin. So He could lay down His life, He still had as much left. His life triumph over death. It is infinite life. So He is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him. Christ will dwell in His completeness in every one who will let Him. This is the mystery of the Gospel. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.6

“‘He Ever Liveth’” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. Let the reader disabuse his mind of a too common idea of the word “intercession,” as applied to the work of Christ. It is a grievous error to suppose that Christ intercedes to appease the wrath of God, and to induce Him to regard man with favour. God was not so angry with the world that it took the death of His Son to appease His wrath. No; “God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10. God was man’s friend; man was God’s enemy. God did not need to be reconciled to man; but men needed to be reconciled to God. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.7

The primary idea of “intercede” is to pass between. How involuntarily our minds turn to the statement in the Hebrews, that “God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, interposed Himself with an oath.” Hebrews 6:17, margin. It is that oath that gives us confidence in coming to Christ. God has pledged himself-His owned existence-for our salvation. His own life is the surety for our safety. So long as our faith holds on to God, the enemy cannot get us till he gets past God, for God has interposed Himself. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 305.8

It is the life of God in Christ, that is our security. He has interposed His own life between us and the enemy of our souls. Before Satan could destroy a soul that trust in God, he would have to kill God. But that is an impossibility. Satan tried that once and failed. He could not touch that life, but Christ voluntarily laid it down. He laid it down that He might take it again, and having taken it, He holds it for ever. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am all live for ever more.” “He ever liveth,” Therefore the sinner who trusts Him can always find a sure refuge. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.1

What athought it is that the spotless, eternal life of Christ is interposed between us and the evil one who “goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” And it is always there, for He ever liveth to put His life between us and harm. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.2

“Life from the Word” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” Deuteronomy 8:2, 3. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.3

This reference shows that there was a special purpose in giving the manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness. It was, of course, for the purpose of supplying their physical necessities, but that was not all. God could have supplied them with food in some other way. He could have led them through a land where they would have found sustenance; but he purposely led them through the wilderness, in places where they could find neither food nor water, in order that it might appear in the clearest manner that their food came directly from heaven. It was for the purpose of making them realize continually that God was their sole support. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.4

Jesus referred to this after He had performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand with the five loaves and two fishes. The Jews blindly asked for a sign as proof of His ministry, and thought to set Moses up against Christ, as superior to Him, by saying, “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” But Jesus answered them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” John 6:31-33. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.5

Christ, and not Moses, was the real leader of the children of Israel in the wilderness. He was bringing them out of the bondage of Egypt, not physical namely, but spiritual. He was leading them not to a merely temporal inheritance, but to an eternal inheritance of righteousness. The keeping of the commandments of God was the sole condition of their everlasting inheritance. But they had no power to do that. Nevertheless, they were not to despair, and say, “Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it [that is, the commandment] unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?” Neither were they to say, “Who shall go over the sea for me, and bring it [the commandments] unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?” And why? The answer was thus given: “But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” In our comparison of this text with the tenth chapter of Romans, in the last article, we found that the commandment here refers to none other than Christ. That is, they could find the commandment only by finding Christ, and He was near at hand. Outside of Christ there is no righteousness, no keeping of the commandments. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.6

Some may think that this fact was not known in the time of Moses, but a careful reading of the thirtieth chapter of Deuteronomy shows that it was exactly what Moses was teaching the people. In verse 15 and 16 we read: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, and his statutes, and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply.” This shows that life is found only in the keeping of the commandments of God. Then in verses 19 and 20 we read: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him; for He is thy life, and the length of thy days.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.7

In this the people were plainly given to understand that their finding and keeping the commandments consisted solely in their finding and keeping Christ. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, because Christ dwells in the heart by faith. The life of the word is the life of Christ. We cannot understand how Christ’s life is conveyed by the word when it is received in faith. It is the mystery of the incarnation. It is the mystery of God manifest in the flesh. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.8

But God does not leave His people to try to grasp abstract truth. He cannot explain it to our comprehension, but He illustrates it so that we may be sure of the fact. So for forty years He gave to the Jews a daily object lesson of the truth that He is their life. As they ate the manna which He gave them directly from heaven, so they were to eat of Him. There was no human agency employed in supplying them with the manna for their physical necessities. So they were to recognize the fact that no human power could give the righteousness which the law demands. That same lesson serves for us, for it was written for our learning. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.9

We cannot understand how it is that the bread that we eat gives us life and strength. We know the fact, and that is sufficient. Physiologists trace for us the changes that the food undergoes in the process of digestion, but not one of them can tell how it is that bread is changed into bone and muscle. That is the mystery of life, which is within the power and comprehension of God alone. So, although we may not know how it is that God’s word can give us life, we may know the fact. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.10

In the raising of Lazarus and the ruler’s daughter Christ gave to us instances of the life-giving power of his word. His word, “Lazarus, come forth,” brought Lazarus from the grave in the full vigour of health. So at the last day His word will bring all the dead from their graves. The raising of the dead is accomplished by the same life-giving power that God bestows upon men in this world to save them from sin. Sin is death: “For to be carnally minded is death.” Romans 8:6. “And you hath He quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:1. To disbelieve that God does actually give us His life in Christ, as we accept His word in faith, is equivalent to disbelieving that Christ ever raised the dead, or that He ever will. But whosoever believes that there was power in the word of Christ to raise Lazarus from the dead, because the word had the very life of Christ Himself in it, may have the same life in Himself, by which to keep the commandments of God. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.11

“A Timely Protest” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A Timely Protest. -We are glad to see that there is occasionally a warning voice raised to show professed Christians whither they are tending. Such a one we find in The English Churchman and St. James’ Chronicle, under the appropriate head of “Revival of Paganism.” The writer says:- PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.12

“I would ask whether there be not a strong tendency nowadays to put in the place of the Creator those invisible forces through which He works. How seldom in scientific books (even in those published by Christians societies), do we see any reference in these days to the wisdom of the Creator; it is always ‘nature’ does this or does the other, ‘she’ modifies this or that organ to suit the needs of such and such a species. In a popular scientific journal, edited by a clergyman, I read, in a paper written by another clergyman, such passages as this: ‘Why did not nature confine its habitat to the birch tree, and tell it not to lay its eggs on various other trees?’ And this is a fair sample of the style of writing adopted by present-day writers on natural history. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 306.13

“Then, again, where is the naturalist who dares to disavow the doctrine of evolution by means of natural selection? He knows he will never be held in repute, no matter what his attainments may be, if he have the audacity to call in question the theory by which the providential care of an all-wise Creator is denied. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.1

“This theory, so popular amongst the men of this generation, is, in plain truth, the assertion of the lie that the world has in the past got on very well without the constant supervision of a Creator, and can do so still. Such belief is inconsistent with Christianity, for we are taught that not a single sparrow even falls to the ground without the Father. If it be not Christianity, it must be paganism.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.2

“Righteousness and Life” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Although the Gospel is a great mystery, yet it is exceedingly simple. A few principles, easily grasped, cover every possible phase of it. Two things only need to be understood, namely, man’s need, in God’s ability and willingness to supply that need. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.3

In the first place we find that all men are sinners. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Verse 23. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.4

Sin is part of the very being of man; in fact, it may be said to be the man. Christ, who knew what was in man, said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:21-23. These evil things come from the heart, not of a few men, or of a certain class of men, but of all men, of mankind. Now we are told that “out of the heart are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:22. Therefore we know that these evil things are the very life of men. That means that the life of man by nature is sin. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.5

But sin means death. “For to be carnally minded is death.” Romans 8:6. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12. Thus we see that sin carries death with it. Death springs from sin, for “the sting of death is sin.” 1 Corinthians 15:56. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15. From these texts we learn that in sin death is wrapped up. Through the mercy of God sin does not immediately work the death of the individual, because the Lord is longsuffering, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. So He gives men an opportunity to repent. If they do so the sin will be taken away, and of course they will be delivered from death. But if they refuse to repent, and show that they love sin, it works out that which is in it, namely, death. Many other texts might be quoted to show that sin means death, but these are sufficient for the present. Let the reader examine, if he wishes, John 3:36; Deuteronomy 30:15-20, in connection with Deuteronomy 11:26-28; Romans 5:20, 21; 7:24. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.6

Sin and death are therefore inseparable. Where one is found, there is the other. To save from sin is to save from death. Salvation does not mean simply deliverance from the consequences of sin, but from sin itself. The plan of salvation is not, as some have supposed, a scheme by which people are free to sin as much as they please, in the confidence that a profession of faith will save them from the just desert of their wrong-doing. On the contrary, it is a plan for the utter freeing of the man from sin, so there will be no cause of death. As there can be no death without sin, so there can be no life without righteousness. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.7

But where shall man get righteousness? He cannot get it from himself, for he has nothing but sin in himself. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Romans 7:18. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7, 8. Since the whole life is sin, as we have already seen, it is evident that the only way to get goodness is to get another life. That is what the Gospel offers. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.8

While man is evil, God is good. He is not only good, but He is the only one who is good. Listen to the words of the Saviour, to the young man who came running to ask Him, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may have eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” Mark 10:17, 18. This is absolute. It does not exclude Christ, for Christ is God. John 1:1. “God was in Christ.” The life of the Father and of the Son are the same. John 6:57. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.9

There is no goodness apart from God. Goodness is not a sentiment, but a real thing. There can be no goodness apart from actions. It is not floating around in the air like the odour of flowers. As there can be no such thing as sweetness. Apart from something that is sweet, and as there is no such thing as saltness apart from salt, so there is no such thing as goodness apart from good deeds. All of God’s ways are good and right. His ways are briefly yet comprehensively described in His law. “He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” Psalm 103:7. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” Psalm 119:1. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.10

As the law of God describes His ways, and all His ways are right, His law is called His righteousness. Thus we read in Isaiah 51:6, 7. “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be for ever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” God’s law is His righteousness, and His righteousness consists of active deeds; therefore the law of God is the life of God. His life is the standard of righteousness. That which is like His life is right, and everything that differs from His life is wrong. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.11

We are not left in ignorance of what the life of God is, for He has lived it before men, in the person of Jesus Christ. The law of God was in His heart (Psalm 40:8), and out of the heart are the issues of life; therefore the law of God was His life. As Isaac Watts says, PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.12

“My blest Redeemer and my Lord,
I read my duty in Thy word;
But in Thy life law appears
Drawn out in living characters.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.13

The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him (Luke 4:18), and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17. Therefore the life of God in Christ is “the perfect law of liberty,” continuance in which causes a man to be blessed in his deed. James 1:25. No other life has ever been seen in this world, that was free from sin. Men have exhausted themselves and worn out their very life in attempting to live righteous lives, and have invariably failed. Everybody knows himself to be a sinner. There are none who will not acknowledge that they might have done better in some things than they have done; and there are none who have not at some time in their lives said or thought that they were going to do better; and therein they show that they know that they have sinned. Every man’s conscience accuses him, even if he has not been instructed in the law of God. See Romans 2:14, 15. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.14

Since every man’s life is sin in itself, and he has but the one life, and righteousness cannot be manufactured out of sin, it is evident that the only way any man can get righteousness is by getting another life. And since the only righteous life ever known is the life of God in Christ, it is plain that the sinner must get the life of Christ. This is nothing more nor less than living the Christian life. The Christian life is the life of Christ. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 307.15

But let no one think that he can live this life himself. It is evident that we cannot live another life with our old life that we have always lived. In order to live another life, we must have another life. And no one can live the life of another. No man can live the life even of his most intimate friend; for in the first place he cannot successfully imitate the things with which he is acquainted in that friend, and in the second place, he cannot know that other one’s inner life. How much less, then, can one live the infinite life of Christ! People sometimes do try to pass themselves off as somebody else, but they are invariably detected in the fraud; so must it be with the one who undertakes to live Christ’s life. Thousands of people are trying to live the Christian life, but the cause of their failure is that they are trying to live Christ’s life with their own. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.1

What, then, can be done? Is there no possibility of living the Christian life? Yes, there is, but Christ must be allowed to live it. Men must be content to give up their sinful and worthless lives, and count themselves dead-merely nothing. Then if they are indeed dead with Christ, they will also live with Him. Then it will be with them as it was with Paul: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:19, 20. When Christ is allowed to live His own life in a man, then, and then only, will that man’s life be in harmony with the law of God. Then he will have righteousness, because he has the only life in which there is righteousness. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.2

If any are in doubt as to how the life of Christ may be obtained, let them read the account of His miracles, how He healed the sick and raised the dead. Read how He gave new life to the poor woman whose life was daily ebbing away. Luke 8:43-48. Read how He gave life to Lazarus and the ruler’s daughter. Learn that His word is a living word, with power to give life to all who receive it in faith. Learn that the life of Christ is in His word, so that when the word is heard and believed Christ Himself dwells in the heart by faith. Ephesians 3:17. Let these things be living realities, and you will surely have life through His name. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.3

“‘Saved by His Life’” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The death of Christ reconciles the believing sinner to God. Men are by nature the enemies of God, and this enmity consists in lack of subjection to His law. Romans 8:7. God’s law is His life, and His life is peace. Therefore Christ is our Peace, because in Him we are made the righteousness of God, or, in other words, are conformed to the life of God. In laying down His life, Christ gives it to everyone who will accept it. Those who do accept it, so that they can say, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;” are reconciled to God, because they have the same life. They have simply made an exchange, giving up their life to Christ, and taking His life instead. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.4

When Christ gives Himself to a man, He gives the whole of His life. Each individual who believes gets the whole of Christ. He gets His life as an infant, as a child, as a youth, and as a mature man. The man who acknowledges that his whole life has been nothing but sin, and who willingly gives it up for Christ’s sake, makes a complete exchange, and has Christ’s life from infancy up to manhood, in the place of his own. So he must necessarily be counted just before God. He is justified, not because God has consented to ignore his sin because of his faith, but because God has made him a righteous man-a doer of the law-by giving him His own righteous life. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.5

That the forgiveness of sins is by receiving the life of Christ in the place of the sinful life, is shown by the statement concerning Christ, that we “have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:14. “It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul,” “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” Leviticus 17:11. So we have the redemption through the blood of Christ, are reconciled to God by His, because in His death He gives us His life. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.6

The receiving of that life by faith makes us stand before God as though we had never sin. The law scrutinizes us, and can find nothing wrong, because our old life is gone, and the life that we now have-the life of Christ-has never done anything wrong. But what about the future? As we have been reconciled to God by the death of His Son, so now we are to be saved by that life which He gave us in His death. How are we to retain that life? Just as we received it. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Colossians 2:6. How did we receive Him? By faith. Therefore we are to retain His life by faith, “for the just shall live by faith.” Faith in Christ supplies spiritual life just as surely as the eating of nourishing food supplies physical life. The Saviour says to us, “Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.” John 6:54, 55. We eat His flesh, by feeding upon His word (verse 63), for it is written that man shall live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.7

“Saved by His life.” What will be the nature of that life? It will be without sin, “for in Him is no sin.” 1 John 3:5. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Verse 4. Therefore that life will be the righteousness of the law. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8), and so the life the He will live in us now will be the same life that He lived when He was upon this earth eighteen hundred years ago. He came here to furnish a complete example to men of the life of God. Whatever He did then He will do now in those who accept Him, and whatever He did not do cannot be done by those who fully receive His life. Let us notice some of the particulars of the conformity of His life to the law of God. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.8

To begin with the tenth commandment, “Thou shall not covet.” So far was Jesus from manifesting any trace of covetousness, that He did not even insist on having the things that belonged to Him. He, “being in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant.” Philippians 2:6, 7, marginal reading of Revised Version. Therefore the one in whom Christ dwells will not covet that which is not his, and will not even insist on always having his “rights.” Love, which is the fulfilling of the law, “seeketh not her own.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.9

Take the ninth commandment. Nothing more need be said than that He is “the faithful and true witness.” Revelation 3:14. He “did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” 1 Peter 2:22. Those in whom Christ dwells will speak the truth, and will be characterized by “the love of the truth.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.10

As for the eighth commandment, Christ’s fulfilment of that is sufficiently indicated in the reference to the tenth. He who would willingly give up that which was His own would be the farthest from taking that which was another’s. His whole life was one of giving. He was rich and became poor that others might be made rich. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.11

Christ could say, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:29. Therefore there was not the slightest trace of impurity in Him. He knew no sin. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.12

His life was the perfection of the sixth commandment. He said, “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56. He “ went about doing good.” Acts 10:38. He came to abolish death, and to bring life and immortality to light through the Gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10. So He will live a life of love and good will to all men, in the soul of everyone who receives Him. There will be no anger, no strife, no jealousy nor envy, in the life of those whose life is Christ’s. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 308.13

There can be no idolatry in those in whom Christ dwells, for when He was tempted by the devil He resisted him with the words, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Luke 4:8. Instead of having any other gods before the One God, His meat was to do the will of His Father in heaven. John 4:34. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.1

Those in whom Christ lives His own life will reverence the aged, and be obedient to parents. Although Jesus was found by His parents sitting in the temple with the doctors, asking and answering questions, and astonishing the learned men by His wisdom, He did not deem Himself above obedience to parents. “He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.” Luke 2:51. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.2

And what about the fourth commandment? “As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” Luke 4:16. He recognized the law of the Sabbath, saying, “It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” Matthew 12:12. He called Himself the Lord of the Sabbath day, because He made it. Not a Sunday was ever kept by Him. Therefore there is no Sunday-keeping in His life, to give to those who believe in Him. His life can impart only the keeping of the Sabbath day. As He kept the Sabbath when He was on this earth, so He must keep it now in those in whom He lives. For He does not change. He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” When on this earth He lived the same life that He lived in heaven before coming to earth, and He lives the same life now that He did then. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.3

There are multitudes who love the Lord, who do not yet know that the keeping of Sunday is no part of His life, and consequently have not yet submitted themselves to Him in this respect. But as they grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they will learn that the keeping of the Sabbath-the seventh day-is as much a part of the life of Christ as is obedience to parents or telling the truth, and they will let Him live this precept in them also. As we let Christ dwell in us in His fulness we become the sons of God, because it is Christ’s life that we live; and the Father will be pleased with us even as He was with His only begotten Son. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.4

“Sabbatarians and the World’s Fair” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In the following paragraph the Chronicle gives a very fair statement of the controversy concerning the opening of the World’s Fair on Sunday:- PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.5

“The battle which is now being fought in the congressional districts of the United States to secure the election of men pledged to allow the opening of the World’s Fair on Sundays will not be a fair battle between the advocates of an ‘open’ and a ‘closed’ Sunday, for many people who believe in a strict, even puritanical, observance of the first day of the week, are now in favour of opening the gates of the exhibition on Sunday. On the other hand, the worst classes in Chicago are working with the Sabbatarians. The reason for this strange combination is that the proprietors of the theatres, gambling houses, public-houses, and race-tracks located in or near Chicago want to have the great crowd of visitors all in their hands to ‘pluck’ on this one day of the week. They will all keep open house on Sunday, of course, and they don’t want the World’s Fair as a rival. The religious element will vote, at least a section of them, to open the Fair on the broad ground of choosing the lesser of two evils.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.6

But the Chronicle has unintentionally made a great mistake. It says “the very worst classes are working with the Sabbatarians.” Now while it is true that the very worst classes, as the proprietors of theatres, gambling-houses, etc., are in favour of Sunday closing, since that would mean a better chance for them, it is in no wise true that Sabbatarians are in favour of Sunday closing. As a matter of fact, the Sabbatarians of the United States do not care whether the Fair is opened on Sunday or not. And yet it is a fact that very many church people, especially the ministers, are working for the closing of the Fair on that day, because they know that if it is open on Sunday it will be a rival of the churches as well as of the public houses. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.7

How can this paradox be explained? Very easily; Sabbatarians are people who keep the Sabbath, and the Sabbath is not Sunday, but the seventh day of the week. The commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Sabbath is the name of the seventh day; and no other day has ever been called the Sabbath by Divine authority. Sunday has no more right to the title “Sabbath” than Monday has. Consequently only those who keep the seventh day are Sabbatarians; and it is evident that they care not whether the Fair is opened on Sunday or not. They take no interest in the discussion of the question, except to show the people that even if Sunday were a Christian institution, instead of a Pagan, enforced Sunday observance would be contrary to the Gospel. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.8

We are glad to be able to say, however, that there are many of the people in the United States who keep Sunday, who do not believe that the liberty of the Gospel consists in forcing other people to do just as they do. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 309.9

“Preaching the Word” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” Acts 7:35. We have none of the details of this sermon; we know only its results, and that is the best test of any sermon, Philip preached Jesus, and his entire audience found Jesus. For this sermon was preached to a single man. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 310.1

But it is a mistake to call this preaching of Philip’s “a sermon.” The dictionaries tell us that a sermon is “a discourse delivered in public, usually by a clergyman, for the purpose of religious instruction, and grounded on some text or passage of scripture.” We may be sure that Philip did not stand up in the chariot and “deliver” an address. A sense of the fitness of things is sufficient to teach us that he did not practice any of the arts of the orator. He simply sat in the chariot with the eunuch, and talked with him as they rode along. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 310.2

More than this, it is very certain that Philip’s preaching was not “grounded on some text or passage of Scripture.” In his day men preached the word itself. Grounding a sermon on a text of Scripture was left for the men who came after, and who corrupted the church by the wisdom of men. The apostle Paul tells how men did who preached not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. He says: “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 2 Corinthians 2:4, 5, 12, 13. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 310.3

In pursuance of this practice, when the apostle went to Thessalonica, he “reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Acts 17:2. This verse says that it was “as his manner was.” Christ’s manner of preaching is shown by the exclamation of the two disciples with whom he talked on the way to Emmaus: “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” Luke 24:32. It was not the sermonizing; it was preaching the word. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 310.4

Notice also that in this same chapter which tells of the preaching of Philip to the eunuch, it is stated of the church “which was at Jerusalem,” that “they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles,” and that “they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 7:1, 4. There are different words rendered “preach,” but this is the same that is used elsewhere in this chapter, and which Christ used when He said that He knew was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. Greek scholars tells us that this word means to “chat” or to talk. So Jesus talked with the woman by the well, and with the two disciples by the way, opening to them the Scriptures. So Paul reasoned out of the Scriptures, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, and so Philip preached to the eunuch. So the disciples in Jerusalem, none of whom were preachers in the ordinary sense of the word, when they were scattered abroad, went everywhere talking the word to all they met. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 310.5

It transpires, therefore, that real preaching, in the Scripture sense of the word, and that is the only sense in which we have any right to use it, is nothing more or less than what is commonly known as Bible reading. And that is no small thing. To be able to do the work of the Bible reader requires knowledge of the Bible equal to that which is required of one who preaches before a multitude. There is no real difference in the work of the two. Why should it be thought that less knowledge of the word is required in preaching the word to one person, than in preaching it to one hundred? The most wonderful and gracious discourse of Jesus, which is recorded, was preached to one man at night. He who preaches to a hundred people has only one hundred ones to whom to preach. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 310.6

The test of any preacher’s the ability to preach the gospel is his ability to preach Jesus to one person. And this is simply his ability to tell that person what he himself knows of the Lord Jesus and His word, so that other one may also know it for himself. It is true that God has not called every one who can thus preach to one person to preach to the multitudes; but the knowledge of God and His word that enables a person to preach to the one would enable him to preach to the hundred, if he were called upon to do so. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.1

If these few lines shall serve to awaken in any one a sense of the real work of the preacher, as distinguished from the sermonizer, and to show to any who are thinking of devoting themselves to the work of what is called Bible reading, as distinguished from public presentation of the word, that it is no inferior work, and that it does not consist in “going over” certain set formulas of Scripture, the object of the article will be gained. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.2

“A Growing Danger” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

In the two papers that have lately come to hand we find statements from two ministers, which show a most alarming condition of things, and the more alarming because the evil is on the increase. In one of them we find this statement: “The Bible is the star which the Magi followed till it stood over the young child. That is its mission, and when it has attained that end for a soul its work is for the most part finished.” A few years ago such language would not have been used by the editor of a Presbyterian journal. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.3

But the other statement, made by a minister in defense of the Higher Criticism, is even worse. He says: “In the late centuries Christ has hard work to hold His place of glory and honour because of Biblioatry.” This the writer likens to Mariolatry of the preceding centuries. He adds, “Instead of saying that Genesis and Proverbs and Malachi have equal authority with the words of our Lord, the New Criticism says they are true or untrue only as they bear witness to Christ.” “Any text of Scripture has authority only as it testifies of Jesus, i.e., only as it breathes the spirit of the Lord.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.4

The error in the statements consists in separating Christ from the word. The Scriptures lead the soul to Christ, not as the guide board points the way to the city, but which has to be left in order to reach the city, but revealing Christ in themselves. He who has the Bible in his hand, and does not see Christ in it, does not come to Christ, no matter what his profession may be. Christ is the Word of God, because in Him God’s will concerning man is revealed; and that will is made known in the Bible, because the Spirit of Christ was in the men who wrote it, and those holy men “spake from God, moved by the Holy Ghost.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.5

But the worst of all is the fact that the New Criticism, according to its defender, presumes to sit in judgment on the Bible, and therefore on the Lord himself. Men are to reject whatever in the Bible is not in harmony with the spirit of Christ! But how do they know what is in harmony with Him? By what do they decide? Why, simply by their own ideas, of course. They take counsel of their own judgment and feelings, and decide what Christ should be, and then reject all of the Bible that is not in harmony with their ideas. Like Origen of old, they endeavour to find a meaning “worthy of God.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.6

Now what are men who take this course really doing? They are really putting themselves in the place of Christ. As they interpret the Bible by their ideas of what Christ is, they virtually say that Christ is just as they are. And that is equal to saying that they are equal to Christ. Of course the men who do this would be shocked at this way of putting the case, but it is nevertheless true. Many well-intentioned people are being carried away by the speciousness of the New Criticism, and by the idea that there are degrees of inspiration in the Bible, and that it is left with them to decide what part of it is inspired and what is not; and it is needful to put before them in the clearest and strongest terms just what they are doing. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.7

The characteristic of the Papacy-the man of sin-is that he “opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4. But what is the difference between this and the New Criticism, which makes itself the judge of Christ and of His word? There is no difference. It is the man of sin in every instance. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.8

People may raise an alarm over the encroachments of Rome, but the danger is not in the political workings of Romanism, nor yet in the fact that clergymen are adopting popish ceremonies in the place of others a little less directly connected with Rome. The danger lies in the attitude of professed Protestants for the Bible. They themselves are preparing the way for Rome to gain the ecclesiastical supremacy of the world. When professed Protestants sit in judgment on the Bible, they have every essential characteristic of the Papacy. Every individual soul who thus sits in judgment on the Bible is, so far as his power extends, a pope. He differs in no essential particular from the Pope that sits in the Vatican, except in degree. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.9

The “man of sin” spoken of in the Bible, is made up of many men of sin. The spirit of Antichrist must be in individual hearts before it can manifest itself at large. It is the exaltation of self, and this is shown in the most marked manner in the acceptance or rejection of the Bible, according as it pleases or displeases the fancy of men. Let all those who see danger in the sure encroachments of Rome direct all their energies toward preaching the word in its simplicity and power as the living word of the living God, and they will find that they have erected a most effectual barrier to Rome in the hearts of all who receive such teaching. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.10

“Jewish Names” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

Jewish Names.-It is stated that the Russian Government, not content with depriving the Jews of all civil rights, has refused them the right to bear names identified with the Christian religion. A Jewish boy may be called Jacob or Moses, but he must not be called Paul, Constantine, or Matthew. Likewise, girls may be named Sarah or Rebecca, but they must not use the names, Mary, Anna, or Sofia. It is a petty piece of persecution, and as senseless as it is petty. As for Constantine and Sofia, they are not names of Christians. There may have been Christians at some time by the name of Constantine, but the only connection the Emperor Constantine ever had with the Christian religion was to paganize it. The other names are all Jewish. Mary was a Jewish maiden, of the family of David, Paul was a “Hebrew of the Hebrews,” Anna was a Jewish prophetess, and Matthew was a Levite. Constantine carried his pagan hatred of the Jews so far as to say, “Let us have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish rabble.” If the Czar should be as consistent in his hatred, he would deprive many of his “Christian” subjects of their names. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.11

“Animals” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

A curious instance of the narrow views of those who attack Christianity is furnished by a writer to the Echo, who says: “I believe that nowhere in the whole range of Christian literature, till quite modern times, was cruelty to animals regarded as a sin in itself.” He believes that “the teaching not only of the Church of England, but of Christianity universally,” is that “animals have absolutely no rights, nor consequently has man to them any duties.” Evidently his study of Christianity has not included the Bible, which is its authority and source. In Deuteronomy 25:4 we read this evidence of God’s care for cattle: “Thou shalt not muzzled the ox when he treadeth out the corn.” And in Proverbs 12:10 we are told, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 311.12

“Heathen Intelligence” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

There is nothing new in the following extract, but there is a truth that is too little thought of in this country of boasted enlightenment. It is getting to be an almost universal thought that intelligence and education are a sure safeguard against the superstition and wickedness and cruelty of heathenism. It is often said that there is now too much civilization to allow persecution. Such ones forget that a higher civilization than that of Greece and Rome has never been known, and that at the very height of their civilization, education, and “refinement,” the most debasing crimes were openly committed, and the most horrid persecutions carried on. The only safeguard against the most abominable idolatry is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in individual hearts. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 313.1

“The mind of the past ages was as acute and profound as the mind of to-day. Evidenced by its high water marks, the possibilities of genius were as great in the B.C. ages as in the A.D. In what the ancient world had to do and did, it exemplified as much power of thought, as much real inquisitiveness, and profundity and general mental energy, as much genius of imagination, creative skill, and perception of beauty in nature or art, as can be shown in this nineteenth century. Its masters of poetry, painting, sculpture and architecture, of oratory and administrative ability and military genius and skill are masters to-day. How many of the fundamental principles of science and practical education are our inheritance from those who peered out of the Chaldean watch towers, from those who studied in the chambers of Egyptian temples, and from those who taught in the original academies, the groves of Greece, thousands of years ago. Archimedes and Thales, Pythagorus and Euclid teach in our schools to-day. We have no orators who excel Demosthenes, or Cicero, or Pericles. We have no painters or sculptors whose genius transcends that of Apollos or Phidias. We have no engineering skill greater than that which built the pyramids, transporting those huge blocks of stone and raising them to their lofty heights. We have no better roads than those Rome built through her provinces. We have no greater generals than Julius Cæsar, or Alexander, or Hannibal, or the Scipios. We have no better statesmen or political economists than Solon or Lycurgus; no better jurists than those who framed the Justinian Code. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 314.1

“And we know, too, that there are ‘lost arts,’ secrets of combination and harmonization, exquisite fabrics of beauty, hidden from modern discovery. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 314.2

“Looking in whatever line or direction we may take, we are confronted by the fact that widespread as our attainments and developments are, we do not surpass the ancient world in essential vigour of intellectual or artistic genius.” PTUK October 6, 1892, page 314.3

“Interesting Items” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

-The eruption of Mount Etna is again increasing considerably. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.1

-England receives from abroad yearly £10,000,000 worth of foreign fruit. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.2

-It is stated that a nephew of Prince Bismarck has joined the Salvation army. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.3

-The total yield of this year’s American cotton crop is about 9,088,707 bales. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.4

-In England ten and one-half of its twenty-five millions of population reside in the large towns. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.5

-One hundred and fifty tons of fish unfit for human food were seized at Billingsgate in August. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.6

-The gross receipts on the United Kingdom railways for 1891 exceeded those of 1890 by nearly £2,000,000. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.7

-Of the 33,000 convictions of women in the year in the United Kingdom 50 per cent were for drunkenness. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.8

-A bull-ring of colossal dimensions, and capable of accommodating 12,000 spectators, has been opened at Lisbon. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.9

-A steam launch made of aluminum in all its parts, including engine and screw, has just been finished at Zurich. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.10

-Professor Cornfield calculates that the mean length of life in London during the last 14 years has increased from 341/4 to 381/4 years. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.11

-The total number of Nonconformists who are members of the House of Commons is 110. This does not include Jews or Roman Catholics. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.12

-The Nile has been higher this season than was ever known before, and much destitution will result from the excessive overflow. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.13

-In the first eight months of this year there were landed on the coasts of England and Wales 3,669,966 cwt. of fish, the value of which is £2,910,748. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.14

-The Japanese Government has decided to send 1,000 working men to the World’s Fair, and after that for a tour of the principal cities in the United States. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.15

-A persevering man at Shanghai, who failed in an examination every year since he was 20, has now, at the age of 76, won a degree of considerable distinction. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.16

-In 1874 the total imports into the Cape of Good Hope amounted to £5,558,215 and exports £5,588,747. In 1891 imports reached £8,570,766 and exports £11,116,231. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.17

-Of the total number of 109,000 locomotive engines at present running on the earth’s surface, Europe claims 63,000, America 40,000, Asia 3300, Australia 2,000, and Africa 700. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.18

-Through Dr. Barnardo’s efforts, 1,200 hitherto destitute boys and girls are on an average placed out annually to fill positions of respectable independence at home or abroad. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.19

-A San Francisco telegram states that, according to mail advices received there, the Tokushima district had been visited by a terrible hurricane, 300 persons being killed and 42,000 houses destroyed. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.20

-“The death of Cardinal Howard has deprived England of her last representative in the College of Cardinals.” The country, however, seems to be able to get along very comfortably without the luxury of a Cardinal. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.21

-The authorities of the London Temperance Hospital had recently to decline, on conscientious grounds, this portion of a lady’s bequest-over 200 bottles of old wine and brandy. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.22

-On the 31st of October there are to be a elaborate festivities at Wittenberg, in honour of the restoration of the Lutheran Church. The Emperor William and most of the Lutheran princes are to be present. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.23

-The municipality of Rome has expelled the members of religious bodies from many of the hospitals of the city, and has replaced them by lay attendants and nurses. Of course this is very displeasing to the Pope. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.24

-Yarn spinning promises to become a profitable industry in China, where one factory on the borders of the Yangtse-Kiang turns out about 130,000 yards of cloth weekly. The machinery is English but the operatives Chinese. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.25

-A fire occurred at Rockaway Beach, a summer resort near New York City, September 21, by which over 100 buildings were destroyed. About a dozen very large hotels were burned. The loss is estimated at half a million dollars. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.26

-In a battle fought September 20, the Dahomeyans lost 1,000 men killed, besides a large number wounded, while the French casualties were five killed and ten wounded. It was a “famous victory,” although, like Old Casper, we cannot quite make out what they killed each other for. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.27

-It is reported that the trade of Hamburg is likely to be permanently injured, owing to the fear that has been aroused by the cholera. To be sure there is no reason for it, for any other city is as likely to have a cholera scourge as is Hamburg; but people do not use much reason when they are afraid. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.28

-The police and military of Constantinople have arrested large number of students, more than 2,000 of whom have been sent away by sea. The official explanation of the act is that it is done to relieve the pressure of students at the public schools; but this explanation, instead of explaining anything, makes the matter more perplexing. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.29

-In Our Day for August, the Rev. Dr. A. P. Happer, writing on the “Ravages of the British Opium Trade in Asia,” says that as a result of forty years’ residence and observation in China, he thinks that forty millions is a moderate estimate of the number of Chinese opium smokers. In 1844 few smoked. Now the opium couch is seen in nearly every well furnished house. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.30

-Temperance people in Marseille are disturbed about the growth of the liquor traffic there. Since 1865 the consumption of spiritous drinks has increased from about 400,000 gallons to 1,820,000 gallons, for a present population of 408,749, making three and three-fourths gallons per head. In some streets there are three or four liquor stores next door to each other. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.31

-Sweden is the most Protestant country in Europe, four out of a population of 4,774,409 only 810 are Roman Catholics, or 16 out of every 100,000. Next to it in this respect is Norway, which is under the same sovereign and has only 502 Roman Catholics out of 1,818,853 inhabitants, or 27 out of every 100,000. In both of these countries the mass of the population adhere to the Lutheran Church. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.32

-A Theological Seminary has been opened at Denver, Colorado, with a Baptist as Dean of the Faculty, an Episcopalian as Professor of Church History, and a Universalist in the chair of Christian Doctrines. Its Professor of Systematic Theology is to be a Presbyterian, a Unitarian is to teach Comparative Religion, and a Congregationalist is to instruct in the Ethics of Social Reform. It seems as though there ought to be a Buddhist and Mohammedan somewhere in their list to make the medley complete. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 318.33

“Back Page” The Present Truth 8, 20.

EJW

E. J. Waggoner

The author and the publisher of a pamphlet ridiculing the “Holy Coat” of Treves, were sentenced by a local tribunal to imprisonment for terms of six weeks and three weeks, respectively. That is a sample of the beauty of the system of a union of Church and State. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.1

The Pope has ordered the celebration of a solemn Pontifical Mass in St. John Lateran on the 16th-the first Sunday after the 12th-in thanksgiving for the discovery of America, October 12, 1492. It is not without reason that the Pope does this, for America has contributed, and will still contribute, very much to the glory of the Papacy. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.2

At the “All Saints Church,” Southend, on a recent Sunday, an “Office for the Dead” was publicly read, in which prayer was offered for the repose of the soul of a gentleman whose funeral had that day taken place. Instead of talking about the incursions of the Church of Rome, it is now in place to think about the excursions of Protestants. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.3

Judging from the letters and reports that appear in every number of The English Churchman, it seems as though there is every prospect of a permanent division in the Church of England, over the question of ritualism. Two classes in the Church are distinguished as Protestants and Romanists. Unfortunately for the prospect of a real Reformation, an appeal to Parliament, and the passage of stricter laws against Romish practices, seem to be about the only means yet thought of to check the extreme ritualistic practices. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.4

Since we have become a “Christian nation,” by virtue of a decision of the Supreme Courts, the old Connecticut “blue laws” are logically coming to the front once more. In the “due process of law” a citizen of Bridgeport was recently arrested on a warrant charging that “in the town of Fairfield, the day being July 16, 1892, the day being the Sabbath, or Lord’s day, said Jeremiah B. Osborne, between sunrise and sunset, engaged in vain sport and recreation by then and there riding about said town upon a certain vehicle known as a bicycle, to the great disturbance of the good people of the State, and against the peace, and contrary to the form of the statute in such cases made and provided.”-Signs of the Times. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.5

A deputation from the Church Missionary Society waited on Lord Roseberry to urge him to prevent the withdrawal of the British East African Company from Uganda, the plea being that the missionaries would in that case be left without protection. The Foreign Minister did not give them very much satisfaction, reminding them that the British taxpayer had to be remembered as well as the British missionary. The Christian World asks: “Does the C. M. S., we wonder, really claim that the Uganda Mission should be maintained by force of arms? More and more the folly of resorting to the musket and the power of kings and Governments, instead of letting the leaven do its silent work, appears in Uganda.” The apostles and early disciples went everywhere preaching the word, asking no protection except from God. But the logic of all union of Church and State is that those who reject the Gospel, and do despite to its ministers, must be coerced by force of arms. It is dependence on man instead of on God. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.6

The Telegraph is making considerable stir over the increasing amount of drinking among the women of London, entitling its articles, “A National Shame.” On a recent Saturday evening one of its correspondents thought to test the matter for himself, and visited eight public houses that were within the space of “a short half a mile,” on one road. He did not select one of the lowest thoroughfares, but a medium one, and in the eight houses he counted 165 women drinking. He says: “I saw not one that was actually a drunk and incapable, but I am afraid a great many that had already partaken of more than was good for them. They are far noisier than the men, and I should certainly say, from the rapidity with which they swallow down whatever they may call for, that they drank more in a given time than their other sex. Very few drink beer-not one out of four probably. It is whisky or gin-the former for choice.” The only step that has thus far been suggested in the matter, is that homes be provided for drinking women. What else can be done it is difficult to say. The Gospel will doubtless save some of them, but nothing has yet been revealed that will save people in masses. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.7

The following despatch from New York to the London dailies shows that the question of the right of government to concern itself with matters is to receive general attention. This is good, for just to that extent will men have an opportunity to learn that the gospel can have no connection with civil law:- PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.8

The question of the Sunday opening or closing of the Chicago World’s Fair is destined to play no inconsiderable part in the coming political campaign in the United States. The advocates of the open Sunday purpose to leave no stone unturned to make the work of the Sunday closers in the last Session of the Congress. The movement in fact is in the hands of old campaigners of both political faiths, and from present indications the fight will be made before election. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.9

Petitions by the thousand are already being circulated. The various trade and labour organizations have suspended hostilities, where hostilities existed, to join hands in favour of a repeal of the obnoxious ... in the Appropriations Bill which regulates that the World’s Fair should be closed on the first day of the week. German societies by the hundred have signified their intention to work to the same end, and many of the more liberal Christian denominations have promised their support. The modus operandi of the anti-Sunday closers is a simple one. In every Congregational district from Maine to California petitions will be circulated for signature. It is the intention to obtain a majority of the voters as ... district as signers of these petitions, and before election day the fact of this expression of opinion will be made ... to the civil candidates for ... labourers, according to the statements of the leaders of the labour organizations, there appears to be no question that a majority of the voters will sign these petitions. PTUK October 6, 1892, page 320.10